By far the most common question I get these days from people is about ebooks. It seems many of you are writing them and good for you! Ebooks can be a good source of income for freelancers and a good way to build or support your brand. If you’re thinking of doing an ebook and wondering where to start, here are some resources for you.

Now, it should be said that this is a place to start. It’s not an all-encompassing guide. Maybe I’ll do one of those. As it stands, there is really good information all over the place right now, so I’ll try and give you some things I’ve heard are good and some that I’ve used myself. But remember what I always say about writing, there are a lot of different ways to make money at it, and ebooks are no exception.

Here’s a good starting place for you, tho.

Traditional Versus Indie Publishing

First, decide if you want to publish traditionally or not. Do some research. You might decide that indie publishing is the right way to go for you, or not. But you need some info first. Just because ebooks are easy to do doesn’t meant they are the right step for you right now. They might be. I don’t know. You need to decide. One place to start is at Nathan Bransford’s blog.

Where to Start?

I’m told there are a couple good resources (which I didn’t use personally but still have heard positive things about). One is the Smashwords guide (it’s free) , which tells you how to format.  Smashwords also helps you upload your books to Amazon and B&N if you’re feeling as if it’s too difficult. I didn’t use them, but even if you don’t I’m told the guide is still very helpful on its own.

Amazon also has a helpful guide on getting started. If you look to the left of that link, it has chapters for formatting and pricing and rights… etc. Read through it before you begin and it will cover all the basics.

Cover Art

A good cover will help sell your book. Yes, people judge a book by its cover! So make sure you have a good one. Joe Konrath has some really great resources for covers on his blog (scroll down on the right side) of that link, and it will show you who he used.

A professionally designed cover does cost money, and if you decide that’s not right for you, just remember to use something that you have permission to use! I can’t stress it enough. Even if you purchase a stock image, make sure you have rights to publish it with an ebook. You can see some of my covers at my Amazon store, and admittedly, many of them are boring and/or ugly. I’ve designed covers myself and also have a couple that I made extremely dull (like my Twitter book). But I like to give you examples to learn from (and sometimes you can learn from my mistakes – so take a look at what’s good and what stinks. If you see a cover that turns you off, that’s one thing not to do for your own book.)

Obviously, a good cover will help you sell your ebook. The cover art should be separate from your manuscript, meaning that you will upload it on its own in a JPG file. So don’t try and imbed it into the Word doc.

Uploading to Amazon and Barnes and Noble

When you have a manuscript and cover, you can upload it to Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Read the helpful hints on Amazon first as it will help also make things a little easier when upload to Barnes and Noble.

Some things to have handy before you start:

• Your manuscript formatted in Word.
• Cover art in preferably a JPG file.
• Marketing copy (this is usually the blurb that you’d find on the back of a book. You can see a short version of this under the “Product Description” on Amazon for one of my books  and a longer version. The wording on here should be whatever you need to grab the reader’s attention.
• Categories. Visit Amazon and look through the categories where books similar to yours can be found. Categories are VERY important, so make sure you have this before you start. Also, you can choose a couple different categories, which might be appropriate depending on your book.
• A blurb about you.

Pricing

Some advice on pricing…. in almost every case I have had to experiment a bit with finding the right price. Some of my books sell well at 99 cents, while others are good at $5.95. Check out other books that are similar to yours to get an idea of what’s out there. Amazon pays a 70% royalty on books priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Anything outside of that gets a royalty of 35%. Also, Amazon insists on having the lowest price for your book (one of the things you agree to when you sign up) so make sure that whatever price you choose is always lowest (or the same) at Amazon.

Selling a Book From Your Blog or Website

After you sign up for Amazon and B&N, you might also want to sell your book from your own blog or website. I used Payloadz for this and you can see how I have this setup for my Twitter book. Payloadz is connected with PayPal, so when someone hits the “buy now” button and pays, their money goes to my PayPal account. The “buy now” button is created on the Payloadz site. I upload my book and marketing info, price it, and it generates an HTML button code that I simply copy to my site.

PayPal takes a small fee, but it’s worth it. You can accept any credit card this way and you never have to worry about collecting money because PayPal does it for you. When someone buys my ebook from my site, Payloadz gives them a link to download the book and then sends the money to my account. I get an email that says I made a sale and by whom. (You can also sell paperback book copies this way (through PayPal not Payloadz in this case). You don’t need PayPal to upload to Amazon or B&N. It’s just if you want to sell books at your own site.

After Your Ebook Is Up

It takes anywhere from a couple of hours to two days to get your book set up on Amazon or B&N. If you get things uploaded and realize you made a mistake, you can always change it later. Amazon has an option to “edit” and it does not cost anything to do this.

If you don’t have one already, it’s a good idea to create an author page on Amazon by visiting Amazon Author Central.  Include your ebook along with the other books they may have already listed there. Also, set up your Twitter and blog feed on Amazon Author Central because it will help readers find you and your blog much easier. Anywhere you can take advantage of marketing opportunities, take it! I actually get a good amount of traffic from Amazon to my blog, so it’s worthwhile to do.

Image: Tina Phillips / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sherri Rabinowitz has done several guest posts here at Working Writers, and we also talked with her before about her books. But I wanted to bring her back because her book Fantasy Time Inc. has just been released as an ebook, and I think that’s always an exciting time for authors. It’s also an opportunity to revamp your book sales.

I’m going to talk more about this subject (of ways to recharge your book marketing efforts) in the upcoming year, but for now, here are a few things I asked Sherri about her new ebook project.

Your book has just been released as an ebook. This is a good opportunity for authors to ramp up their promotion efforts. What are some of the things you’ve done to get attention for your ebook?

Thank you, it’s all new to me. I am doing interviews and guest blogs. I also have new announcement on several websites and a new ad.

Do you find that more people are reading ebooks or books these days? Have your book sales changed at all with regard to so many people having e-readers?

It seems to be an ebook world. I have been getting more sales since the ebook hit the market. My friend explained that it was because it can contain many books in a small space and its easier to carry on a plane if you travel a lot. I can understand that, because a lot of books in bag would cost a fortune these days on plane.

What are some of your favorite ways to market your book?

I use Twitter a lot. I also love to do guest blogs and interviews.

What’s been the best feedback that you’ve received about your book so far?

I had two wonderful reviews of the book. I also was asked if I would write a sequel three times because they wanted to know what happened to these characters next.

Reviewed by Debbie Archer

Anita Higman has done it again! Every word tapped out on this woman’s computer is a treasure. In Another Stab at Life (The Volstead Manor Series), she weaves together an engaging young protagonist (Bailey) and a cast of off-beat, quirky characters. If I were to list my favorite elements in the book, it would have to be the humor, the fast pace and the endearing people who appear throughout the text. They refuse to leave your thoughts when you finish.

From the time that Bailey arrives at the pitiful (and creepy) mansion left to her by her sweet Minna, until the end of the book, I was pulled into the mystique of each character and loved the relationship between the Bailey and her deceased grandmother. The book is full of wonderful reminders of how precious family is. One of the most poignant examples of that was when Bailey was listing the things that Minna had left her … which included her Bible and seeds from her garden (I LOVED that)!

The romance was sweamy! Sweet and steamy. It reminded me of vintage movies when the viewer had the delightful privilege of conjuring up her own ideas. Loved it! Can’t wait to read Another Hour to Kill. Diving into it tonight.

Do you have a guest post or review you’d like to share? Feel free to contact me and let me know.

More books by Anita Higman:

• Love Finds You in Humble, Texas
• Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe
• Tribute To Early Texas: Through the Lens of Master Photographer John R. Blocker
• and more!

A lot of us are creating our own ebooks now, and pricing has a hot issue. After all, a lot of people are offering their books for free on readers like the Kindle. Is that right for you? Some folks charge as much for ebooks as they do for paperback. Is that the thing you should do? Here are some thoughts.

Check Out the Other Books in Your Category

Get an idea of what people are charging for books by visiting other books like yours. Is there a common price that seems reasonable? This could help you figure out your own price. Be careful, however, to really make sure your book measures up to the others you see. If you’ve got something unique in your book, you may be able to charge more.

For my ebook, Internet Dating Is Not Like Ordering a Pizza, I experimented a lot with price. There are several in the $5-ish range in that category, but I wondered if I could reduce the price. I dropped it to $2.99 and something really interesting happened: it didn’t sell! When I raised the price up to $5.99 again, it did. I think sometimes a lower price means (to the reader) that there isn’t enough information in the book.

Experiment With Price

For a couple of my “dating 101″ books like First Date 101 and Date Ideas for Every Season, I experimented a lot with price. The books are short and give great basic information on things like first dates and dating ideas, and seemed to sell much better for $.99 than they did at a higher price point.

However, when I tried to sell my diabetes etiquette book, 21 Simple Things You Can Do To Help Someone With Diabetes at $.99, sales tanked. For this book, there really isn’t another book like it, but even with that, it is marketed to a specific audience (that of a diabetic or someone close to them), and as I experimented, the $2.99 price range seemed to work.

Why $2.99?

In case you’re wondering why so many books get priced for $2.99, it’s because that’s the cutoff that Amazon gives for you to earn the most royalties. If you go below that figure, you’ll get 35% royalties. Anything from $2.99 to $9.99 will earn 70%. In a sense, Amazon has set the optimal price for ebooks with this royalty share.

However, I also know of several authors who skip Amazon altogether and instead sell their ebooks on their site alone. They generally charge much more for ebooks, something like $15-25. They are pricing based on the fact that they only need a few sales to make money.

What’s the Best Option?

Like so many things in the writing world today, there isn’t one best option. Overall, I think it’s a good idea to list your books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, because that’s where the majority of sales take place. You can change prices easily enough if you need to. The increased traffic will give you a better opportunity to sell your books.

But as you’ve seen just from my small example, pricing and placement are often things that take a little bit of experimenting. Here are some good rules of thumb for pricing:

• See what types of prices are on similar books in your category.
• If you offer something unique in your book, be sure to charge appropriately.
• Experiment with price if you need to, it’s easy enough to do.
• The ideal price moves books but also makes you money.

What is your experience with ebook pricing?

Most of the complaints I hear from authors about Twitter is that it’s time consuming or difficult to use. Neither is true, but when you’re already pressed for time, adding one more method of promotion can be the straw that broke the camel’s back. But not this time! Here are five quick and easy things to make Twitter an effective marketing tool in 10-20 minutes per day.

1. Automatic Tweeting

Automatic tweeting can help save you time. You should still interact on the site, but in order for your tweets to be seen by the most people possible, you need to send them more than once. There are several great sites that will let you do this. Here are a few:

• Su.pr
• Twuffer
• Networked Blogs

What I do is spend several minutes one or two times a week scheduling various tweets with links that I feel need the most attention. These links could be related to book reviews, guest posts, information on your book, characters, news items… and on and on. Once you set them up, you don’t need to think about them again.

2. Be Present on Twitter

By “being present” what I mean is get active. Again, this doesn’t take much time. But if the only effort you’re putting into Twitter is that you tweet something out once or twice a day and that’s it, step it up. A good rule of thumb? Interact with five people and tweet out five things. Do that to start, and see how you do. How you do find people to interact with? Read on.

3. Use Twitter Search

That search box at the top of Twitter is your friend. Use it to find people:

• who are chatting about your book.
• who are talking about a news item that might relate to our book.
• who are also promoting books similar to yours (promoting others is a good thing and helps you in the process).
• who are chatting about a key phrase that might relate to your book.

Finding people to interact with is a key component of Twitter. You can’t just tweet out links and be done. Not just that, but finding people on Twitter is easy. Enter a search term in the box (such as your name, book name, keywords that relate to your book, news items), and see what people are saying. Get involved in the conversation.

4. Promote Other Writers

I mentioned this briefly above, but promoting others is a great thing to do. Not only is it polite and gives you a “plays nice in the sandbox” kind of vibe, but you’ll also help your readers find new writers. Isn’t it nice when an author you enjoy points out other books you might like? That helps you with your own readers, and it also helps you find new readers. After all, if you promote an author who is similar to you, they might do the same for you. Connecting readers to authors does not send them away from your works. Just the opposite.

5. Inspire People

Who doesn’t love an inspirational quote or saying? You can be the person that gives someone a lift. The great thing is, when you inspire someone else they will probably follow you, so spread out your tweets with promotional items and things that provide inspiration.

Another way to do this is to find other writers and give them an “atta boy.” Writing is such a solitary thing, so it’s nice to be heard when you talk about your WIP. Search for the #amwriting hashtag to find out what writers are working on, and respond to them with a note of encouragement.

These quick five things will keep you in front of the eyes of Twitters everywhere, and get you more attention and success when using Twitter. Use these tips to slowly build a Twitter platform where you naturally talk about your book, as well as other things that might interest in the Twitterverse.

Find Out More!

• 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter

The virtual tour for 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter continues! This has been a “mini” tour, meaning that it’s about half a month long. Today’s post comes from a recent review I received of the book.

Here’s a part of the review:

In discussing incorporating Twitter into one’s marketing campaign, she alleviates fear that Twitter will be too time consuming by explaining how Twitter can be useful in only twenty minutes a day. Throughout 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter, Burbach gives concrete and short examples of authors, includinng herself, using Twitter to promote their books and other work. Burbach’s tips for using Twitter to promote one’s book are easy to understand and easy to follow.

Read the rest of the review!

Any Christian authors out there? I’m a member of ACFW and have met a wonderful bunch of writers that way. As some of you know, I have a couple Christian fiction books in the works and am investigating ways to get published. Which way is correct? To get an agent? To publish and promote on my own? I’m trying to figure it all out.

In the meantime, I’ve written this book on using Twitter to promote your book, and wrote a special guest post over at Rose McCauley‘s blog that talks about how Christian authors especially can use Twitter. There are numerous ways they can connect with other Christian writers, promote their work, and spread their enthusiasm for God. If you’re interested, check it out.

It’s one thing to use Twitter, and another to use it correctly. One of the reasons writers get frustrated with Twitter is that they think it’s too involved, or too much work. They log on once in a while, they only share links, and then they say it doesn’t work. Well, it does work but you do have to use it correctly. It’s a different medium than other types of social networking, and if you can get a handle on them (which I promise you is not difficult or time consuming) you’ll really reap the benefits.

I’m passionate about this, can you tell? LOL! Some tips on using Twitter correctly is what I’m talking about over at Letters Across the Page today. Come join me!

I’m continuing my virtual tour with a stop at the Pentalk community where I’m talking about how Twitter can work for writers. After all, if you’re going to spend your time on Twitter, you want it to “work” for you, meaning that you’ll get:

• Backlinks to your site.
• More hits to your blog.
• More exposure.
• Meet new fans of your writing.
• Sell more books.

One thing I like about Twitter is that no matter your writing goal, you can use Twitter to make it work. It’s one thing that really works in conjunction with all your other efforts. If you’re interested, please visit me over at Pentalk.

http://pentalkcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-twitter-can-work-for-writers-by.html

So how can you market on Twitter? When I tell writers I use Twitter a lot for marketing, that’s the question they ask me. So for the fourth day of my virtual tour I thought I would address some of the many ways you can market your book on Twitter.

I’m at the She’s Got Character blog talking about three ideas for marketing your book. If you enjoy this post, consider getting my ebook, 21 Ways to Market Your Book on Twitter where you’ll get 18 more, plus information on how to use Twitter quickly and easily, how to instantly find others to connect with, and how to incorporate Twitter into your overall marketing plan.